ello all and welcome to Pitpass. If
the name and huge
picture of fresh faced world
champion Lewis Hamilton
on the front cover didn’t
give the game away then I’ll
put you out of your misery
- this magazine is about
motorsport. From F1 to
Touring Cars. From WRC to
A1GP we’re going to cover
it all in the most interesting
and wry way possible.

If you haven’t yet bought this and you’re currently in
WH Smith’s wondering what makes this motoring magazine different from the others ones you could spend
your hard earned on then? Well, we’re not going to bore
you with tedious facts and figures that are of no interest
to anyone. That type of info is all well and good for the
racing purist who likes to have a plethora of statistics
at his disposal but for the average, run of the mill motor racing fan that type of stuff can send you to sleep.
We deal in nothing but the most interesting, important
info and we don’t expect our readers to have to wade
through the irrelevant stuff.
So if we’re not giving you tonnes of facts then what
are we giving you? Expect plenty of features on the ins
and outs of motorsport both on and off the track, interviews with those you will have heard of and some you
may not. Oh, and we’ve got a gobby columnist hanging
around near the back pages airing his warped views on
the world of racing. Everything you could possibly want.
So what are you waiting for? If you haven’t already
bought it then take it to the till and get it paid for. If you
have shelled out for it then get stuck in. Hopefully you’ll
enjoy reading the first of what will be many issues just
as much as we enjoyed making it.
Cheers

oss Brawn has completed a takeover of
the troubled Honda F1
team. The management buyout will see the team take to
the grid this season, albeit
as the newly branded Brawn
GP.
Brawn, who joined the Japanese outfit last year after a
ten year stint at Ferrari, had
been linked several times with
a management buyout of the
team over the past few weeks
after interest from other parties including Richard Branson amounted to nothing. If
the team hadn’t been sold by
the start of the season Honda
would’ve been forced to close it
down to cut costs.
Thankfully for Brawn and
his team development of this
season’s car didn’t stop when
Honda announced their intention
to withdraw meaning that Brawn
GP will have no trouble being
ready for the first race of the
season in Melbourne on March
29. The team made their test
debut in Barcelona on March 9
and the BGP 001, which will be

6

powered by Mercedes engines,
surprised everyone by topping
the time sheet in the first session.
The cars will be driven by the
former Honda pairing of Jenson
Button and Rubens Barrichello,
with the former rumoured to be
taking a 50% pay cut in his £8
million contract to help keep the
team in business.
Honda announced they were
withdrawing at the end of the
2008 season citing the global
economic crisis as the reason.
The team had endured two torrid seasons prior to opting out
of the sport, finishing eighth and
ninth in consecutive seasons
after failing to build on a strong
fourth place finish in 2006. In
the previous two seasons they
finished behind teams with a
fraction of their £200 million
plus budget.
Speaking about the takeover,
Ross Brawn said: “The vast
experience and knowledge that
both drivers bring to our team
will prove invaluable as we aim
to get up to speed in the shortest time possible to be ready for

the first race of the season...I
would also like to take this opportunity to pay due credit to
our staff at Brackley. The levels
of motivation and commitment
that I have witnessed at the factory deserve the highest praise.
“Initially, we may experience
some reliability issues resulting
from the lack of track time but
we feel we have a good car and
we hope that our performance
will be respectable.”
Hiroshi Oshima, managing officer of Honda Motor Company
Limited, said that Honda offered
its “sincerest wishes” for the
new team, adding: “We are very
pleased that we could sell the
team to Ross Brawn, with whom
we have been partaking in the
challenges of F1 competition,
and are grateful for his decision.”
It is not yet known if there
will be any redundancies at the
team’s Brackley plant, where
700 now former Honda staff
work but one man who will be
keeping his job is Nick Fry, who
is staying on at Brawn GP as a
CEO.

USGPE is go

PITPASS / news

All American team set to take to the grid in 2010

T

he grid for the 2010 season will see a new team
throw their hat into the
ring and much to everyone’s
surprise they’ll be from the
United States.
US Grand Prix Engineering,
or USGPE as they are colloquially known, are set to make
their debut in 12 months’ time
in the hope of injecting a new
lease of life into Formula One’s
failing attempts at snaring the
North American market. After
2005’s disastrous United States
Grand Prix at Indianapolis and
the shelving of the Canadian GP
it looked as if F1 had resigned
itself to never quite cracking
the home of Indy and NASCAR
but this new development could
provide a major foothold across
the Atlantic.
The team is the brain child
of engineer Ken Anderson and
journalist Peter Windsor and had
been in the offing as early as
2006 when the latter told Bernie
Ecclestone of his plans: “I first
told Bernie about this in Brazil
2006, and he was his usual specific self. He just said, ‘great, get
it done’.”
The team plans to stay true
to it’s roots as well as its Made
in America mantra so it’s main
base will be located in Charlotte,
North Carolina where the chassis will be designed and built.
Anderson has also said he’d like
to have two American pilots if
possible.
The announcement has already
triggered speculation as to which
two drivers will take up the
spots on the 2010 grid. One of
the most frequently mentioned
is Danica Patrick - a moderately
successful female IndyCar series
driver. Whether she would be
able to make the cross over to
F1 is debatable considering the
awful track record of almost every other driver from an American race series who made the
jump but the marketing potential would be limitless. However,
whether American motorsport

GRAND IDEAS: Peter Windsor is one of the two behind USGPE
would allow Anderson, who is
technical director to NASCAR
team Haas CNC Racing, to
poach one of their prize assets
is doubtful. Scott Speed has also
been mentioned who has previous Grand Prix experience but
said experience didn’t amount to
much. Marco Andretti could join
and become the first third generation F1 driver after his father
Michael and grandfather Mario.
Windsor spoke at the team’s
press launch about the idea and
admitted that while it sounds
far fetched it is very doable: “It
sounds very arrogant perhaps,
but we have some history and
we have some things that we
want to bring into the sport that
we think we can do well.”
The pairing of Windsor and Anderson have announced a small
partner has already agreed
to help fund the team but the

general ethos behind it - that an
F1 outfit doesn’t need a multimillionaire or a billionaire corporation behind it to be a success still remains. Whether that ethos
has some grounding in reality or
not remains to be seen.
However confident they are
scepticism still remains, especially about how the team will
conduct itself. Both Anderson
and Windsor have admitted that
track time is unlikely until early
2010 which could see the outfit
at a huge disadvantage alongside the more experienced outfits. Many people won’t be reading too much into the statement
of intent, especially after similar
failed projects such as Prodrive.
Until a car is on the grid at the
first race of the year then people
won’t be confident enough to
place money on USGPE racing in
2010.

7

PITPASS / news

Heikki: It could be my year
Flying Finn hopes he’s the one to lead McLaren to glory and not Lewis

M

cLaren driver Heikki
Kovalainen has said
he hopes he’ll be the
one bringing the British team
the driver’s title this year,
and not Lewis Hamilton.
The Finn was outperformed by
Hamilton last year who finished
45 points ahead, however he
thinks he’s improved: “I’ve
learned so much from last year,
I think I’ve developed both as
a person and as a driver and I
know that if the car is good then
I’ll have every chance of fighting
for wins. If that happens, I hope
it will lead me towards fighting
for the title.
“As a Formula One driver you
have to go into every season believing you can be World Champion otherwise there’s no point
being here. And I believe I go
into the new season with every
chance of fighting for the title.”

CONFIDENT: Kovalainen believes he has improved since last year
However, Heikki is unsure of
whether McLaren’s car is capable
of winning: “It’s still too early
to say how the car will behave

when we are in Melbourne because we are still bringing new
parts to the car and have not
yet run the finished article.”

Trulli: Toyota
can challenge
Italian believes Japanese outfit can finally
live up to its expectations and it’s budget

J

CONFIDENT: 2009 could be Toyota’s year

8

arno Trulli believes 2009 will
see Toyota finally
live up to the hype and
become one of F1’s top
teams.
Toyota, who’ve had an
impressive pre-season,
have had one of the biggest budgets on the grid
for several years now
but on-track success has
been hard to come by.
However, their Italian
driver believes that the
new TF109 is one of the
best cars that the team
have produced for some

time: “The car is consistent on long runs, we’ve
done several and we have
found the car consistent
in every condition.”
The team are still yet to
win their first Grand Prix
but Trulli believes that he
and his teammate Timo
Glock have never had a
better chance of breaking the Japanese team’s
duck: “Our aim is to be
in the top three or four
at the start of the season
and see what we can do
from there. I’m more and
more confident.”

PITPASS / news

BTCC to test
CO2 emissions
Initiative is a world first

TESTS: Cars must be ‘green’

B

ritish Touring Car
teams will have to see
their cars undergo testing for CO2 emissions for the
first time ever this coming
season.
The move, which is a world
first, is endorsed by the Government-sponsored initiative Energy Efficient Motorsport. The idea
behind the tests is to bring the
emissions of the racers closer
to those of the various vehicles
road going counterparts.
Cars who are already running
the championship’s latest set of
2 litre technical regulations have
already been put through the
tests at a Land Rover laboratory
ahead of the start of the season and it has been shown that
they’re meeting the new targets
without losing too much power.
Alan Gow, series director of the
British Touring Car Championship, said: “We could have gone
down the easier path of simply
mandating the use of bio-fuels...
but the BTCC wants to see emission levels genuinely reduced
and that is why we are taking
this route – in other words tackling CO2 emissions directly at
their source; namely the engines
themselves.
“Our sport is full of incredibly
clever, very talented engineers
and this initiative is a great
demonstration of their ability to
tackle such issues head-on.”
The first race meeting of the
season has been provisionally
pencilled in for April 5 at Brands
Hatch.

WORRY: The ruling sets dangerous precedent for other tracks

Croft could close
after court ruling
Historic circuit ordered to pay out over £850,000
after legal battle with residents over level of noise

T

he future of Croft racing
circuit is in doubt after it
lost its appeal to compensate neighbours of the
circuit against noise pollution.
The circuit was originally asked
to pay £150,000 compensation
to the Watson family, who had
complained about ‘loud, intrusive and repetitive noise’ emanating from the circuit as well
as their own legal fees but now
it has also been ordered to pay
£700,000 in Court costs.
As if to add more insult to
injury the court has also issued
an injunction against the circuit
limiting activity to only 40 days
a year, less than the amount
of days taken up currently by
major events such as the British
Touring Car Championship and
British Superbikes.
Croft is the one of the few
circuits serving the north east

of England and Yorkshire and
the injunction would all but stop
the circuit from putting on track
days - a major source of income
for every racing circuit.
Another worry is how this case
will effect other tracks. The
ruling has set a new precedent
and now circuits all across the
country are operating under the
threat of claims relating to noise
pollution.
Croft circuit released a short
statement after the ruling, saying: “Croft Promosport Ltd is
extremely disappointed with the
Court of Appeal’s decision today
in relation to the recent High
Court judgement, which has serious implications for the circuit
and the motor racing industry
generally.
“We are reviewing the position
carefully and would not with to
make any further comment at
this stage.”

9

PITPASS / news

Parente secures
2009 GP2 drive
Ex-SuperNova driver will race for ORT next year

P

ortuguese driver
Alvaro Parente has
announced he will be
racing for GP2 team Ocean
Racing Technology next
season.
Parente made a fantastic start
to last season’s series, winning
the very first race, but failed
to capitalise on that and finished eighth in the Championship overall. He will be racing
alongside Indian driver Karun
Chandhok and have his first test
outing with the team in France
on March 11.
Speaking about securing the
drive, Parente said: “I’m very
pleased to be with Ocean Racing
Technology, because I believe in
the team’s potential and I was
warmly welcomed by everybody.
“I feel confident that this team

will allow me to move forward
in my career. Besides, this is a
project with a Portuguese flavour, which is something that
makes it special and pleases
me.”
Ocean Racing Technology was
formerly known as BCN Competición but changed its name
after it was bought by former F1
driver and Parente’s compatriot
Tiago Monteiro.

Pedrosa plays
the waiting game
MotoGP star leaving Qatar decision until the day

D

ani Pedrosa has said
he will not make a
decision on whether
to take part in MotoGP’s
season opener in Qatar
until raceday.

The Honda rider is still recovering from injuries he sustained
when he fell heavily in testing last Monday. He required a
skin graft on his left knee and a
titanium pin to be inserted in his
left wrist after the accident and
is wary about putting his body in
harms way again at such short
notice.

10

Speaking about his fitness,
Pedrosa said: “We are planning
to work hard and so be ready for
the first race in Qatar, but when
the day arrives we will have to
see whether I am well enough to
get on the bike.”

News in brief
Head of the FIA, Max Mosley
has said that the News of the
World story about an S&M orgy
he took part in had a “terrible
effect” on both him and his family. Mosley made the admission
to MPs who are investigating
press standards, privacy and
libel laws.
F1 World Champion Lewis
Hamilton has said he was ‘overwhelmed’ after collecting his
MBE from the Queen. Hamilton
collects the award after being
named of the New Years’ Honours list. Hamilton, the youngest
ever world champion and first
black driver was accompanied
at the ceremony with his ever
present father Anthony, brother
Nicolas and stepmother Linda.
Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini helped complete a SEAT
sweep at the opening round of
the WTCC in Curitiba, Brazil.
Muller lead from start to finish in
the first race rarely being trouble
by the following pack whereas
Tarquini battled his way up from
fifth on the grid to take the win
in the wet in the second race.
Luca Filippi has joined the
SuperNova GP2 team this year
from ART Grand Prix. The Italian drove for the team back in
2007 when he finished fourth in
the overall standings. Filippi will
partner Javier Villa next season,
who is making the jump to the
main series after impressing in
GP2 Asia.
Former F1 driver Jonathan
Palmer has called the interest in
the new Formula Two series ‘unprecedented’. All the grid slots
in the revamped series have
been taken before the car was
even launched. The formula,
which is being revived after 25
years, will give young drivers a
chance to race in the top tiers
of motorsport without having to
spend too much money. The first
round is in Spain on May 31 and
will see sons of famous drivers
such as John Surtees and Martin
Brundle take to the grid.

PITPASS / feature

START YOUR
ENGINES...
It’s not long now until the 2009
Formula One season kicks off at
Albert Park in Melbourne. While
every season usually brings a
few changes both on and off the
track this year the tinkering has
reached new levels, so it’s a good
job Pitpass’s Matthew Briggs
is here to help you clue up on
what’s going on in F1 this season

The Rules
A raft of technical changes have
been brought in to make the
sport more exciting. The most
obvious is the change in aerodynamics, which has seen cars lose
their slim, sleek design and turn
into boxy monstrosities. Thankfully, these changes haven’t
simply been made to turn the
vehicles into lumps of metal that
will make your eyes bleed whenever you so much as cast a cursory glance over the screen, but
they have been made to try and
improve overtaking. According
to the FIA the wider front wings

12

and taller back wings will allow
cars to follow each other more
closely and in turn this should
increase the
chances of
overtaking.
However,
it remains
to be seen
whether the
prospect of
more exciting racing
can really
make up for
the horrors
that will be sitting on the grid

this coming year - Renault’s R29
being the most vomit inducing of
the lot so far.
While F1 purists
may feel sick at
the sight of some
of the cars they
can take heart
that slick tyres
have also been
brought back by
the FIA for the
first time in over
a decade. The
tyres, which are
completely bereft
of any grooves should allow cars

Renault’s R29 is
the most vomit
inducing design
of 2009 so far

PITPASS / feature

to carry more speed through
“The problem is that you can’t
of day. The idea was that the
corners and like the aerodynam- be sure what effect they’ll have.
top three placed drivers would
ics improve the chances of over- Will it bring the pack closer toget medals, very much like the
taking. Even if the reintroduction gether or spread them out? No
Olympics and that the driver
of slicks doesn’t work as planned one will know until the first race
with the most golds would win
there is still the promise that the but for racing you’ve got to hope the title. Bernie justified this
smallest splash of rain onto the
it’s the former. Either way techby saying “no one was going to
track will see the tyres rendered
nological advances are part and
put their car into a wall for one
pretty much useless and half the parcel of F1 so we’ve just got to
point.” Clearly he missed the
drivers skid into the wall in the
get used to them.”
climax to last season where the
most spectacular fashion.
It’s not just the motors that are title not only came down to one
The most potentially interesting getting an overhaul this year.
point, but was settled in the last
change in the rules,
corner too.
not just this season
but in recent history
The Drivers and Teams
is the introduction
Movement on the driver
of KERS. Far from
front has been surprisbeing simply a nice
ingly sparse this year,
sounding acronym
with almost every team
it’s a development
retaining the line up they
which could revoluhad the previous seationise the sport if
son. Some of the few
implemented propchanges have came at
erly. KERS stands
the two Red Bull owned
for kinetic energy
teams, with RBR replacrecovery system and
ing the now retired David
as you can probCoulthard with German
ably guess from the
youngster Sebastian Vetname it will coltel and Toro Rosso filling
lect the energy the
the gap left by the gancar gives out under
gly 21 year old with newbreaking and store
comer Sebastien Buemi.
it in a battery. This
To the surprise of some
energy can then be
Kimi Raikonnen didn’t
used by the driver
jack the sport in and
in short bursts to
signed a new deal with
give them a little bit
Ferrari towards the end
of extra speed and,
of the 2008 season,
as you’ve almost
which mean the team
certainly guessed,
retains the Raikonnenallow them to overMassa line up for this
RUMOURS: Kimi is still here despite the whispers season. Nelson Piquet Jnr
take slightly easier.
This sounds great in
managed to cling onto
theory but it has already met
Some of the more contentious
his seat by the skin of his teeth
stiff opposition from teams who
on-track issues that dogged last
to so he’ll continue to partner
believe the negatives far outseason have been seen to by
the moody Spaniard Fernando
weigh the positives. Firstly, the
the FIA. The most welcomed will Alonso in 2009.
weight of the system has anbe the change to the pit lane
We can’t mention changes on
noyed almost every team on
procedure under a safety car.
the grid without mentioning
the grid, especially since they
Over the past two seasons drivHonda, or should that be Brawn
spend millions of pounds each
ers have had to wait a certain
GP. With former Ferrari Technical
year trying to reduce the weight
amount of laps before coming in
Director and all round engineerof their race going cars. Several
to change tyres and refuel. This
ing whizz Ross Brawn completteams have claimed that KERS
rule lead to drivers who were
ing a management buyout of
will have a detrimental effect on
low on fuel breaking it and inthe team with only weeks to go
every single track on the circuit.
curring stop go penalties that ef- before the season kicks off so
There is also the issue of safety,
fectively ruined their races. Now, rather than sun himself on his
with claims that teams won’t run the FIA say they have developed veranda in Monte Carlo Jenson
KERS until they’re happy it’s not
a technology which gives drivers Button will have to actually race
going to malfunction and engulf
a minimum time for the driver to next year. Shame.
their cars in flames.
get back to the pits.
Lloyd Da Silva, an automotive
And a quick mention to the
The Tracks
engineer believes these technimooted medal system which
Not content with technical
cal changes are a mixed bag:
thankfully never saw the light
changes the FIA have also

13

PITPASS / feature

A NEW LOOK: 2009 designs have a taller rear wing and a wider front wing to increase overtaking
tinkered with the calendar with
what will no doubt be varied
success. In comes the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which will shunt
the Brazilian GP from its slot as
the final race of the season while
both the French and Canadian
GP’s have been pushed out
altogether. While there may not
be many tears shed outside of
Bourgogne for the former, the
Canadian GP has provided some
fantastic races over the past
couple of seasons and F1 fans
from all over will no doubt be up
in arms that one of the most entertaining races has lost it’s slot
so Bernie Ecclestone can chase
the dollar in foreign markets and
add tedious street races to the
race schedule.
Some of the more familiar tracks
may look slightly different this
coming year too as the times
of races have been changed to
be more accommodating to the
European viewer. Far from having to get up in the middle of
the night or very early to watch
races in Australia, Japan and
China they have been put back
by an hour to two so us lucky
folk on the other side of the

14

world aren’t too bleary eyed. A
nice idea on paper but I for one
like the nocturnal fumbling as I
sleepily reach
for my television remote
and the
snooze button
on my alarm
at the same
time. I like
plying myself
with coffee
so I don’t fall
asleep during the prerace spiel. It’s
part of the experience although
I probably wont miss it one bit
once I get used to the idea of
having a lie in.

the years so unsurprisingly we
were over the moon when it was
announced that the BBC had
won the rights
to broadcast
the sport. With
the promise of
additional coverage on the
red button, the
return of The
Chain and no ad
breaks on paper
it sounds pretty
good. If that
wasn’t enough
the Beeb have
also brought Martin Brundle
across from ITV making it nigh
on impossible to pick holes in
their coverage. They’ve even got
Murray back, albeit in an online
capacity.
With all these changes it’s
looking like it’s going to be an
intriguing season at the very
least. The car launches have
had the unusual effect of asking more questions than they
answer. One thing that is for
certain is that everything will
be much clearer come the first
race. See you there!

F1 fans all over
the world will be
up in arms the
Canadian
GP
has lost it’s slot

Any Other Business?
We at Pitpass Towers have been
fed up with ITV’s coverage of F1
for some time. The way adverts
were shoehorned in at the worst
possible time, the rush to wrap
up the coverage so housewives
could get their fix of Corrie
and Mr. Point-out-the-bleedin’obvious James Allen have all
driven us to distraction over

PITPASS / feature

THE
DRIFTERS

Could the world of drifting really be on the verge of becoming the next motor
racing phenomenon? As Matthew Briggs finds out it’s no longer about young
lads with attitude problems hanging around in empty car parks after dark

M

otor racing is no longer just the pursuit
of stuffy old farts,
oh no. If you prefer style to
speed and spoilers to diffusers then there is one
series out there for you. The
British Drift Championship
takes those who prefer going sideways around corners,
whacks them on a track and
then allows them to compete
against each other in a series
of races across the country.
The sport of drifting originated
in Japan way back in the 1970’s
and was an instant hit with
spectators and wannabe racers
alike who weren’t used to seeing cars slide around bends in a
pool of smoke. An underground

16

scene developed and tuning
garages and existing Japanese
car magazines produced videos
and set up events to promote

soon found its way over to the
UK and US as magazines such
as Max Power picked up on the
new craze. Meetings of ‘boy rac-

If you’re bored of the mega rich
racers in F1 or A1GP you could
do worse than give the BDC a go
the new sport. By the mid-90’s
drifting had been exported from
the land of the rising sun and
was capturing the imagination
of car nuts in the western world.
The cool underground scene
which had thrived in the far east

ers’ in supermarket car parks up
and down the country weren’t
completely uncommon and
tuning, which had gone hand
in hand with the Japanese drift
scene, became big business. It
was now fashionable to have a

PITPASS / feature
garish motor with an ill sounding
engine.
With all this in mind it’s hardly
surprising that an official UK
championship was just around
the corner. After dozens of
drifting exhibitions put on by
various groups of fanatics from
all around the country, Britain
finally got it’s own national series in 2008, in the guise of the
British Drift Championship.
The first season of the BDC was
a roaring success, with over 60
drivers competing at each event.
There are two categories for races. The first is the semi-pro category, which is for drivers who
show a basic level of drifting
skills and the second is the pro
category, which unsurprisingly
caters to those more competent
at drifting. The cars differ too as
in semi-pro they only need to be
equipped with basic safety items
whereas pro cars need to have
the works, including a roll cage
in case of a nasty shunt.
The BDC acts as a feeder series
for the hugely successful Need

way up the various series to
compete in the European Drift
Championship in 2007. I got
involved in commentating on
events around this time too
and it helped me understand
how they’re ran. Since then
i’ve helped set up the BDC
and I now focus mostly on
the day to day running rather
than racing myself.”
The BDC’s exciting inaugural season came to a close
at Llandow last August with
Steve Moore and Dave Walbrin taking the semi-pro and
pro titles respectively. The
2009 series is set to start
in only a few weeks time at
the back end of April at the
soon-to-be home of the British Grand Prix, Donington
Park. While you may not yet
see the BDC plastered across
your television screens, even
on some little known channel at the arse end of the Sky
listings interest is growing in
it, so much so that various
companies have thrown their

SIDEWAYS: Windscreens are useless when drifting
For Speed European Drift Championship, which itself has only
been running since 2007 and
unlike many drift series gets
coverage courtesy of Motors
TV, so the rewards for the most
impressive drivers in the British
Drift Championship are huge.
Mark Buckle, one of those who
helped set up the BDC, has been
involved in the world of drifting
prior to the advent of the aforementioned series: “I started in
the world of drifting way back
in 2005 driving a Nissan Skyline
R32 GTST. Eventually I made my

weight and money behind the
venture. Sponsorship deals
with Falken Tyres, Total Car
Magazine and even game
developers Codemasters have
been struck.
If you’re looking for something slightly different this
summer to break up the
monotony of F1 race after
Touring Car race after A1GP
race full of mega rich stars
then you could do worse than
spend a weekend or two following the British Drift Championship.

What is drift racing?
Unlike conventional motorsport you don’t win a drift
race by being the fastest, you
win a drift race by being the
most stylish. Confused? There
are a select team of judges
at each race lumbered with
the job of deciding who is the
most stylish out of all those
on track. Thankfully, to make
their job slightly easier they’re
given a few criteria to rank
competitors on - line, angle,
speed and show factor. The
line is often determined by
the judges prior to the meeting beginning, angle is the
angle of the car during the
drift, speed refers to the pace
during the drift with faster
being better and show factor
comprises of smaller elements
such as crowd reaction and
smoke.
The sport of drifting is usually divided into two sessions.
The first acts as a qualifying
session for drivers and the
second is the final session
which comprises of the 16
highest ranked drivers from
the first session. In the final
session the drivers are paired
off and have to pass each
other under drift conditions.
These passes are judged and
the winner of the heat goes
through until there are only
two drivers out of the 16 left
who then compete to see who
wins that meeting.
Only a small part of the
circuit, usually a handful of
decent, interlinking corners in
good view of the crowd and
judges, is used with the rest
of the track irrelevant with
regards to the actual ‘racing’.
However, it can be used by
the driver to help heat their
tyres and get their car ready
for the next attempt.
Still confused? Not to worry.
If you want to know more
about drifting or even find out
the hows, wheres and whos of
having a crack at it yourself
head over to the BDC’s official
website (www.thebritishdriftchampionship.co.uk) for more
info.

17

PITPASS / feature

RACING IN
A RECESSION

As Matthew Briggs finds out not even
the glitzy world of racing has escaped
the clutches of the global financial crisis

S

port is usually pretty
bulletproof whenever
the rest of the world
hits financial hardship. This
point may have been proven
when earlier this year, amid
a plethora of job losses for
Joe Public, the FA Premier
League managed to renegotiate a new television deal
and bleed more money out
of broadcasters. However,
football may well be the exception that proves the rule.
While the beautiful game
may not be on the bones of
its backside other sports are
struggling badly, and at the
very top of that list are some
of the biggest series in the
world of motorsport.
Shockingly, F1 is right up there
at the summit treading a fine
line between being a financially
viable venture or being complete
pie in the sky. Yes, even the
most glamorous form of racing,
which prides itself on being the
hottest thing on four wheels,
has had a short, sharp shock
over the past few months. The
racing world sat up and took
notice when Honda announced

20

that they would be pulling out
of the sport. If a buyer wasn’t
found the team then that would
leave the grid laughably sparse
with only nine outfits involved far cry from the mid 90’s when
there was nigh on constantly 13
to 14 teams competing season
after season . Thankfully team
principal Ross Brawn has completed a management buyout
so the old Honda team will be

for all concerned.
Problems aren’t just confined
to F1, where millions are spent
trying to shave a second or
two off a lap time. Popular, but
less money-centric series are
also suffering. The World Rally
Championship has lost one of
its banner names in Subaru to
the recession, as well as relative newcomers Suzuki meaning
that the 2009 season only has

Until this season the idea
of
Subaru
pulling
out
of the WRC was like Ferrari
pulling out of F1 - unthinkable
on the grid next season in some
shape or form. Still, those in
charge can’t say they weren’t
aware of the difficulties some of
the teams were facing - Super
Aguri, the unofficial Honda ‘B
team’, pulled out of the 2008
campaign after only four races.
A warning shot across the bows

two factory teams on its grid of
eight. The effect that losing two
teams of Subaru and Suzuki’s
calibre will have on the WRC will
no doubt be felt this season,
after all Subaru pulling out of
rallying is like Ferrari deciding
it’s too expensive to race in F1 unthinkable. At least it was until

PITPASS / feature
this year.
costs are cut and importantly
die overnight.
Ikuo Mori, chief executive of
racing is made even more interFor WRC though it looks like it
Subaru’s parent company Fuji
esting.
could be a tough few years. With
Heavy Industries explained the
Does this mean we’ll see F1
Ford and Citroen also taking a
decision: “Our business environ- adopt the same model? That’s
long hard look at their involvement has changed dramatically
highly doubtful. One of the mament in the sport prior to the
due to the rapid deterioration
jor drawing points for supporters start of the 2009 campaign it’s
of the global economy. In order
and prospective teams alike is
entirely possible that if the situto optimise the management
resources and to strengthen the
Subaru brand further, Fuji Heavy
decided to withdraw from WRC
activities at the earliest time.”
But rather than wallow in self
pity plans are being put into action by the FIA and other bodies to try and curb the amount
of money spent by teams and
individuals in the pursuit of
trophies and championships in
all levels of motorsport. Formula the R&D aspect. The fact that F1 ation doesn’t improve economiOne teams have took the lead
is about teams doing battle both cally we could see a WRC grid
by proposing radical cost cutting on the track and off the track.
full of privately owned teams.
measures that it plans to impleWhile a universally used chassis
Much like F1 very few people if
ment over the next two years.
may improve racing it’ll destroy
any would be left to watch if the
A recent meeting between the
the battle of the brains that goes manufacturers jump ship.
teams was very productive and
on behind the scenes. This seaIs there any light on the hoFerrari president Luca di Monsons rule changes wouldn’t be
rizon? Well, the financial crisis
tezemolo said that the proposals half as interesting if every new
has to end sometime and when
from the meeting will be premachine came out looking idenit does those in motor racing all
sented to the FIA sooner
over the world will thank
rather than later: “If we
their lucky stars that
had not done alone these
they’ve made it through
cost savings, it would have
to the other side. What
been difficult for many
will the future hold for
teams to maintain activities
the mad world of motorin F1. We will meet with
sport then? Will we see
the chairman of FIA in the
a return to the days of
next few days, and we will
plenty when constructors
inform the World Council
and car companies threw
on these important decitheir cash about like their
sions, because as you have
was no tomorrow in the
seen these decisions have
hope that they could get
been taken in such a short
a couple more points on
time and I think there are
the board come the end of
important cost savings.”
the season or will frugality
This move will be music to
remain the word on everythe ears of FIA president
one’s lips? It depends. If
Max Mosley who has been
the changes that are afoot
pestering the teams for
produce a positive result
some time about cost cutthen we may not see team
ting measures.
budgets skyrocket for a
Outside F1 cost cutting
while yet but as always if
is paramount, with lesser
the money is there there’s
GONE: Honda and Super Aguri have quit
series and formula looking
a temptation to spend it.
Formula One over the past twelve months Whatever happens in the
for ways to avoid financial
problems. The revamped
distant future, the next
Formula Two series promises to
tical. Anyway, a universally used year or two in not just F1 but
give young drivers a chance to
chassis may be one thing but
every motorsport will be, in the
show off their talent in a uniform no F1 team will agree to having
words of Luca di Montezemolo,
machine. This model is based
identical engines put in every
an “unprecedented.” Lets just
upon the idea behind A1GP of
car. If it was forced then all the
hope that these unprecedented
providing several identical cars
name teams would leave in a
decisions have a positive effect
to all the drivers on the grid so
huff and the appeal of F1 would
on the sport we love.

There would be few people
about who would still want
to watch F1 or WRC if the
manufacturers are forced out

21

PITPASS / interview

WORK
HARD...
...PLAY
HARD
Tell someone you manage a race team and they’ll probably try and change the
subject, but tell them you manage a race team, you are studying for a degree
and you’re in your early 20’s, and they’ll probably call you a liar. Pitpass’s
Matthew Briggs has spoke to one man doing all of the above - Hal Ridge

A

sk any student and they
will tell you studying
at university is stressful enough without various
other distractions knocking
you off your stride. The majority will stick to the simple
life of socialising and occasionally working but others deliberately make things
hard for themselves. One of
these few is the University of
Sunderland’s Hal Ridge - student, racing driver and team
owner.
Hal, who originally hails from
Bishops Castle, Shropshire is
the sole driver and owner of
the HrRACING Rallyesport team
which takes part in Rallycross
events around the country and
around Europe and like most
drivers his interest in motorsport

started at a very young age: “I
first took an interest in motor
racing and in particularly Rallying when I was a youngster. I
saw it on TV and because where
I grew up in mid-Wales there is
quite a lot of Rallying I managed
to convince my Mam to take me
to see some live. After that I
was hooked.
“I always wanted to do Rallying
but went to watch a few Rallycross events and I really enjoyed it. This inspired me to get
a road car, a Peugeot 205 GTi,
at the age of 16 and I spent two
years building it and modifying it
by myself, with no experience at
all. Eventually I took part in my
first event on 3 July 2005 in the
Stockhatch class.”
Eventually Hal made the decision to go to university, but not

before he spent a year travelling around New Zealand and
preparing himself to compete
in the MSA British Rallycross
Championship. Hal then raced
sporadically in many different
championships before managing to capture the British Division 1A in 2008: “I was happy
we won it, even though it wasn’t
very well supported. It wasn’t a
case of us simply turning up and
winning the meetings because
there were still some very good
drivers to race against and the
car did well.”
The future looks bright for Hal,
with a new car and new competitions to compete in this year:
“That was the last outing for
my Peugeot 205 as I’ve been
working on a Renault Clio Super
1600 for some time now which

23

PITPASS / interview
has been built especially for the
chines where as we only able to
but now it looks as if he’s on the
European Rallycross Champispend £20,000 if that on my car. verge of some major success.”
onship. It’s going to debut in
We will do our best to get in the
So where does Hal feel journalFrance in two weeks time and I
mix. It’s all relative but literally
ism and photography, the vohope to take it to
the meetings in
Hungary, Austria,
Sweden, Belgium,
Poland and Germany too.”
It’s not all fun
and games for Hal,
as there have been
just as many spills
as there have
thrills: “I’ve had
a couple of huge
crashes in my
time races. Once I
rolled the car five
times and another
time someone hit
me up the backside so hard my
seat was actually
pushed forward.
“There was also a
number of incidents and problems SPEED DEMON: Hal punishing his Peugeot 205 at the Croft circuit in 2007
that occurred at
an exhibition event
at the London ExCel in Decemeverything I have goes on it.”
cations he’s currently studying
ber 2007. After the second day
While Hal admits that his racing at university, fits into his life of
of racing I was in 18 overall
looks like a hobby on the surface racing: “It’s helping me in ways
and the car was pretty much
underneath it means much more that you wouldn’t imagine. Now
destroyed due to the various
to him: “It’s my life. We don’t
rather than just racing I’m going
shunts and other problems. I
just race but we hire cars out,
to events to write about them
was all ready to pack up and go
build them for other teams and
and take photographs. In fact
home but the people with me
look after cars for other outfits
this coming weekend I’m goand the other teams managed to before, during and after events.
ing to Portugal to report on the
convince me to stay. We worked
It isn’t just something we do
second round of the ERC before
on the car all through the night
part time.”
I start racing in it myself in a
and on the Sunday I climbed 15
His love of motorsport doesn‘t
few weeks.”
places to finish third overall.”
just stop at Rallycross. Anyone
Unsurprisingly, Hal’s mindset
The camaraderie between
teams and within HrRACING
alone is heart warming: “My
team consists of myself and a
couple of others that work under
me and help me out. We’re constantly at work, constantly developing the cars and I couldn’t
do it if it wasn’t for those people
who drives with a passion in any echoes that of almost every
who give up their time to help
class is a favourite of his: “I love driver in every class today - live
me out.
to watch people who are having
for the now: “I don’t look five
“Financially it’s hard too as I
to work for results, don’t have
or ten years into the future.
have to put every single penny
everything spoon fed to them
I’m putting everything I have
I have into it. We’re very forand have such a passion for the
now into racing and I justify it
tunate to have some very gensport - I love an underdog. At
to myself by saying that I could
erous sponsors to help us out
the minute I’m getting a kick out get hit by a bus tomorrow and
too. If you look at the European
of watching Jenson Button beI’d feel like I wasted my days.
Rallycross Championship we’re
cause he’s had such a rough ride You’re here for a good time, not
going up against teams who
in F1 over the past few years
for a long time.”
spend £200,000 on their ma-

Financially it’s very tough as I
have to put every single penny I
have into keeping the team going

24

PITPASS / opinion

EYES ON THE PRIZE

Lewis Hamilton will be looking to retain his Formula One crown when the
season kicks of in Melbourne on March 29, however as Matthew Briggs has
found out clinging on to that elusive trophy could be harder than it looks

W

inning one Formula
One World Championship is hard
enough but winning two in a
row is the sign of a fantastic
racer. A quick flick through
the history books will throw
up only a handful of drivers
who have did it, every last
one of them all time greats.
Lewis Hamilton’s explosive
start to his F1 career instantly had his name mentioned
alongside those who have,
the best this sport has had to
offer - Fangio, Ascari, Senna,
Prost and Schumacher. All
this without winning a Championship. Now he finally has
one under his belt he has
to go on and prove that the
original hype was justified
and he can go toe to toe with
those F1 legends and what
better way to do it than retaining his crown.
While drivers who’ve retained
the title may be scattered fairly
sparsely the F1 record books are
full of those drivers who have
fallen back down the field once
they’ve secured one title. Jody
Scheckter had one of the most

26

dramatic falls from grace, as the
season after he won the title he
finished a lowly 19th place in
the championship. Years later
Keke Rosberg won the F1 World
Championship only to finish fifth
place the next season and barely

Even
minor
technological
changes have a
profound effect
on the drivers
put together a title challenge.
More recently Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill who won
the title in consecutive years
dropped back down the grid,
finishing fifth and twelve respectively one year after their title
wins. While they weren’t entirely
to blame for their fall from grace
they never truly recovered and
both drivers left Formula One
without ever capturing their title
winning form again. This season

all eyes will be on Hamilton to
see how he copes with the pressure of being world champion
and whether he can retain his
crown, but the odds might well
be stacked against him.
The first thing Hamilton will
have to contend with if he’s to
retain the title is the oft mentioned rule changes. There are
a lot of new gadgets and gizmos
on the machines this year such
as KERS and driver adjustable
bodywork which everyone on the
grid will be tinkering with from
first practice in Melbourne to see
exactly how it all works when
the cars are in race trim. Hamilton is probably more prepared
than most on that front as it was
only two years ago he made the
step up from feeder series GP2
into the big leagues. Considering
how well he adapted to an F1
car it’s safe to assume that he
probably already has a handle
on the new technology and how
to use it effectively. Changes
to the aerodynamics plus the
reintroduction of slicks will make
the motors a different beast.
Every driver, not just Hamilton, will have to learn the limits

PITPASS / opinion
of the car again. Even minor
knee deep in the shit when reno doubt that his collapse at the
changes can have a profound
ally they’re not fairing too badly
end of the 2007 season had an
effect of drivers as seen in the
at all. McLaren also have a few
effect on him mentally and last
early rounds of last season when more days of testing to look for- season he suffered for it, coming
Massa had serious trouble keepward to at Jerez next week while very close to losing the title to a
ing his car on the black stuff
most of their main competitors
very inconsistent driver in Felipe
because of the lack of traction
will start getting ready for the
Massa. Hopefully now his car is
control.
long trip down under. This will
adorned with that red number
While McLaren may have a boy
give them more time to iron out
‘1’ he’ll be able to relax and he
wonder who’s at home with all
the obvious creases and get a
wont get a rush of blood to the
the technology they’ve stuffed
car together that can compete
head when his back is against
into that shiny, silver machine
in Oz.
the wall.
they do have issues
This season consistency
with how good that
is the key. In 2007 he
shiny, silver mafinished on the podium
chine actually is
a total of 12 times out
on the track. Preof the 17 races that
season testing has
season and finished
been, in a word,
in the points in all but
woeful. McLaren
two. If he had pulled
have struggled quite
out that type of form
badly for pace and
in 2008 then the race
rumours that the car
for the title wouldn’t
isn’t doing as was
have went down to the
predicted when it
last corner of the last
was in a wind tunGrand Prix. He needs
nel continue to do
to tread the line bethe rounds despite
tween being conservasoothing words
tive and being a racer.
from CEO Ron DenPoints win prizes and
nis. Recent tests in
the more you get the
Spain have seen the
better but at the same
team run a series of
time it’s better to get
bizarre tests swapsome than none at all.
MP4-24: Testing with last seasons wing has baffled
ping between last
Analysis is all well
some and led to rumours all is not well with the car
seasons wider back
and good but what’s
wing and this years
the answer to the
new tall one, pourquestion - can Lewis
ing fuel on the fire that the back
If the car isn’t going to be runHamilton retain the Formula One
of the car isn’t doing as it’s told
ning away from the rest of the
World Championship? The anand thusly they’ve propped up
pack then Hamilton needs to
swer is yes, of course. Whether
the time sheets for the most
make sure that his mindset is
he will or not is another matter
part. This would be quite gallcompletely spot on. Has habit
altogether. Someone less cauing to take anyway but the fact
of getting jumpy or impatient
tious than me when it comes
rivals Ferrari, BMW and Renault
when times get tough cost him
to making predictions is Bev
have looked so strong in the
in 2007 and it almost cost him
Loram, one of the people behind
run up to Melbourne will stick
in 2008 too. When his head
the Loram Racing team and a
in the throats of all those ashis down and he’s concentrathuge Lewis Hamilton fan, and
sociated with the Woking based
ing 100% on racing then he’s a
she thinks he’ll struggle: “Histeam. Even the likes of Brawn
machine, as seen by some of his tory tells us that winning your
GP and Red Bull Racing look as if moves on other drives at Monza
first title isn’t easy, but a good
they’ve stole the march on them last year. Unfortunately when
driver in a good car stands a
at this very early stage.
the pressure is on he jumps the
chance. To win two in a row you
There is some consolation for
gun and makes errors which can have to be phenomenal. I hope
McLaren though. The pre-season cost him points and eventually
he does it but the odds seem to
testing period is notorious for
the title. Even when he’s not
be stacked against him. If I have
giving warped results and very
under pressure he can be prone
to go out on a limb i’d so no, he
often the timesheet on the final
to silly lapses which at the very
wont win it in 2009.”
day of testing doesn’t resemble
best leave him red faced and
Lewis didn’t have a smooth ride
the order of the grid on race
the very worst leave him out
to the title last year and it looks
day. Teams run different strateof the race - his pit lane shunt
as if his defence is going to be
gies, different body work and
with a stationary Kimi Raikonjust as bumpy, here’s hoping
different fuel loads which can
nen in Canada last year being
that even if he doesn’t win he
often give the impression is
one particular example. There is
does us proud.

27

PITPASS / feature

ARE YOU
EXPERIENCED?
Ever wanted to get behind the wheel of a super car? Well now you can.
Track experiences are becoming ever more popular and allow proles
like you and I to sample the fastest cars in the world, but are they worth
the cash? We sent Pitpass’s very own Matthew Briggs along to find out

T

rack experiences are big
business nowadays, with
circuits up and down the
country allowing you to drive
some of the best cars in the
world for a not so small fee.
It’s no surprise they’re so
popular, since they allow you
to get behind the wheel of
a motor you can only ever
dream of owning and drive
as fast of you like without
fear of the Old Bill jumping
out from behind a hedge and
nabbing you. Thousands of
petrol heads a year stream
through the gates of their
local track to sample a super
car and do their best Niki
Lauda impression. When the
opportunity arose to have a
bash on a Ferrari 360 at one
of these outings you’ll probably not be surprised to know
I jumped at the chance.
The track I was visiting was
Teesside Autodrome - a fairly
new track which is the proud

home to the largest karting
circuit in the world. Not something you’d expect to find lurking in one of the many North
East backwaters. After a short
drive we enter the factory laden
heartland of Middlesbrough and
manage to find the poorly sign
posted track, which is located on
an industrial estate just south
of the Riverside Stadium. The
dank, rusty surroundings of the
factories and buildings are in
direct contrast to the gleam-

form just to say that on the off
chance I do fly off the track and
break every bone in my body
I’m not going to sue the lovely
people working here, or Driving Sensations or Virgin. Once
the paper work is completed it’s
time to mill around, survey my
surroundings and find out where
the toilets are so I can unload
my bladder and ease my nerves.
With Teesside Autodrome being
a fairly small track it means you
can get very close to the ac-

The dank factories that surround
Teesside Autodrome are in direct
contrast with the machinery on it
ing paintwork, almost art-like
machinery and romantic history
tied to each of the cars on show.
I enter the building, sign indemnity form after indemnity

tion. Even if you’re not driving
coming down to the track on a
day like this allows you to see
and hear the cars up close and
personal. There is nothing quite

29

PITPASS / feature
like hearing a finely tuned beast
of a machine like a Lamborghini
or Ferrari belting around a track
at full throttle.
2.15pm came and it was time
to make my way to the briefing
room, along with another two
dozen or so participants, both
young and old who were itching to get on track. Julie, one
of the instructors, came in and
gave a short speech about what
to expect when you were out
there and then demonstrated,
via the medium of whiteboard
and marker, where to break and
where to accelerate. While it
may seem helpful to twenty-plus
bags of nerves it’s effectively
going in one ear and out the
other. Breaking points are the
last thing on your mind, you just
don’t want to crash.
Eventually we’re given the nod
and we make our way back to
trackside. Depending on which
company you booked with you
were either pencilled into do a
familiarisation lap or you were
just put your car of choice and
sent on your way. Thankfully I
had booked a familiarisation lap
so I wasn’t bombing down to the
first out of sight corner without
knowing what to expect. Me and

one or two other participants
jumped into a nearby 4x4 and
were driven around the track
by Julie while being told how to
take the corners in more detail.
After the familiarisation lap I
dashed back to trackside and
picked up my helmet. If you had
picked one of the two soft top
cars, the Ferrari 360 and the Lotus Elise, then you had to wear
one, presumably in case you end
up skidding along the road on
the roof of your car. After sev-

of the car more and more, or
at least that’s what I thought.
Soon I was finding my breaking
points with releative ease and I
was enjoying myself, like a kid
at Christmas. Unfortunately just
as I was really beginning to find
my stride my five laps were over
and I pulled into the pitlane.
As I final farewell I managed to
blag a passenger lap in a BMW
M3 driven by local racing driver
Andy McKenna. You might have
thought it would be slightly

Eventually I was finding my
braking points with ease. I
was like a kid at Christmas
eral minutes of dicking around
I found one which fit my large
head and my name was called.
I wandered over to the Ferrari,
as nonchalantly as possible and
jumped in. A few minutes later
I was pulling onto the track, the
top down.
After the first lap or two when
the initial nerves pass I was
able to start wringing the neck

underwhelming, jumping out
of a Ferrari and into a Beemer
but having the car thrashed
to the limit by a professional
racer opened my eyes. If I had
any delusions of grandeur after
‘powering’ through the twisty infield section and down the back
straight then they were put to
bed after seeing what someone
like Andy can do in a car half as

BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER: The Ferrari 360 looking good (left), Matthew putting the 360
through its paces during his laps (top right), leaving the scene of the crime (bottom right)

30

PITPASS / feature

EXPENSIVE: Well over £200,000 of motor car sitting on the track at Teesside Autodrome
good as the Ferrari.
The experience as a whole was
amazing but don’t just take my
word for it. Dennis Peart, who
was driving an Aston Martin,
said: “It was a fantastic. I love
Astons anyway but I’m hooked
now. I think I may have to try

that type of disposable income
will probably own the super cars
in question. As with everything
though the price will probably
drop over time.
If you can’t afford to pay
through the nose for a couple
of laps in a fantastic car but still

Be warned, speed is addictive.
After you’ve done it once you’ll
want to do it again and again
and convince my wife to get me
one for Christmas!”
Would I do it again? Almost
certainly. The only issue is the
price. Unfortunately not everyone has a couple of hundred
pounds lying around to spend on
a track day every time it takes
your fancy. Those who do have

fancy driving like an absolute
mad man then don’t worry the
vast majority of circuits do track
days, where by you can take
your normal, road going car and
take it beyond your usual limits.
Obviously, motor racing can be
dangerous and while waivers
and in house insurance for the

tracks cars are all well and good
if you’re driving your own you’re
not covered. Insurance companies are usually quite happy
nowadays to offer you deals for
track days, although obviously
they’re much more expensive
than your usual third party, fire
and theft. Many tracks wont let
you on without valid insurance
while some will have offers on
site you can sign up and pay for
so your best bet is to ring up
prior to arriving so you’re not
turned away.
Whether you want to go fast
in a car that isn’t yours or
you fancy put your own motor
through it’s paces be warned speed is addictive. Once you’ve
felt the raw power of one of the
best cars in the world or you’ve
driven faster in your Ford Focus
than you could ever do on public
roads you’ll want to come back
again and again.

31

PITPASS / feature

TESTING TIMES
Pitpass reporter Matthew Briggs casts a
glance over 2009 winter testing and looks
at the big winners and even bigger losers

I

t’s a cardinal sin of motorsport to read too much into
pre-season testing times
but with the ban on in season testing during the 2009
title race teams are having
to tread a fine line between
playing the old bluff card
and putting down times indicative of their real performance. That means testing is
actually relevant to the make
up of the field for once.
At the top you’d find the usual
suspects. Ferrari are blisteringly
quick and will no doubt be early
favourites for the title. BMW
aren’t far behind and Toyota
finally look like they’re going to
justify being the flushest team
on the grid. Renault, Red Bull
Racing and Williams are all pretty quick too but there are couple

32

of surprises at the business end
of the time sheets.
Races aren’t won or lost during
pre-season testing, that’s a fact,
but if Brawn GP’s performances
are legitimate then they may as
well give them the points and
the trophies from the first half

Ferrari’s and BMW’s of this world
and they’ve left them red faced.
There are reasons why Brawn
GP have came from nowhere
and shown up the big boys.
Firstly, while other teams have
had a few months to develop
their 2009 car the old Honda

Brawn GP’s track times have
been mind bogglingly good
a dozen races now. Their times
have been mind bogglingly good
and while rumours persist that
they’re putting out a deliberately light car to try and attract
sponsors the word in the pit lane
is that the times are legitimate.
They’ve went toe to toe with the

team have had almost a year.
Honda’s 2008 car was such a
dog that it was deemed a waste
of time to try and shave off a
second here and there so they
focused solely on 2009 and
the just announced regulation
changes. Secondly, almost all

PITPASS / feature
the development on this seaBrawn.
Some believe that McLaren are
sons machine, the BGP 001, was
While one British team is very
indulging in the old art known
done when Honda still had their
much on the up another is
as ‘sandbagging’, where teams
cheque book out and hadn’t
struggling. McLaren have failed
deliberately under perform in
yet decided to jack the sport in
to build on their drivers title win
testing to try and lull their rivals
giving the team much
into a false sense of semore financial muscle
curity but usually teams
than they would have
who partake in a bit of
if development was
sandbagging occasionleft until later. Thirdly,
ally show glimpses of
they’ve got two race
their true pace. Either
winning drivers in
McLaren are the masButton and Barrichello
ters of the cunning ruse
who are much better
or they’re genuinely
than the previous two
in the brown stuff. My
seasons results may
heart says the former
suggest. Finally, they
but my head the latter.
have Ross Brawn who
Lets face it though,
is widely regarded as
this is all wild specua genius within the
lation and conjecture
sport and one of the
until that first race in
WORRIED: McLaren’s new car could be a step back
main men behind
Melbourne. Race weekSchumacher’s five
end pace and testing
seasons of complete dominance
last season and have released
pace are far removed from one
back in the early noughties.
a car which by all accounts isn’t
another and when the lights go
Brawn GP have been well ahead that good. Hamilton and his
out on the grid in Albert Park
of the chasing pack, in some
team mate Heikki Kovalainen
we’ll finally find out what the
cases by whole seconds and
have struggled towards the botwinter testing has been worth.
teams may be unwilling to risk
tom end of the time sheets all
There have been occasions when
adjusting their car’s aerodywinter. While they are now start- testing has been an excellent
namics for races on wind tunnel
ing to close the gap and make
gauge of a teams pace, such as
data. If Brawn do manage to
small steps in the right direction
Honda a few years ago when
translate raw testing pace into
they’re not doing anything too
they struggled at the arse end of
race pace then we could see
ground breaking and it could be
the time sheets and carried that
an unlikely championship wina case of too little too late. The
form over into the season. In my
ner. It could be that the only
final test of the season is well
book it’s certain Brawn GP are
hope the other teams have is
under way and if they don’t have going to be in contention for big
the lack of track time results in
a eureka moment soon then
points. You could do worse than
an unreliable machine, but the
they’re going to struggle to pick
sticking a few quid on them to
early signs look promising from
up serious points.
pick up a win in Oz.

Pitpass’s 2009 Predictions
World Drivers Champion - Kimi Raikonnen
You can’t help but feel that the Flying Finn will make up for his poor showing last year by blowing
the field away.
World Constructors Champion - Ferrari
Why spoil the habit of a lifetime? Both Raikonnen and Massa are race winners and Ferrari’s stereotypical reliability should see their cars score points in most if not all races.
Surprise driver of the season - Jenson Button
It’s ironic that the hype around Button was so big when he first arrived that he’s now massively
underrated. He’s proven that if you put him in a good car he can battle with the best of them and
Brawn look like they have a good car.
Surprise constructor of the season - Brawn GP
They didn’t exist until a few weeks ago and they’re hammering everyone else. Both titles may be
slightly out of reach for them at the moment but they’ll be up there come the end of the season.
Disappointment of the season - Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton will struggle to get himself on the podium at this rate. Don’t expect miracles from
him this season.
Don’t bet against…
BBC commentator Martin Brundle offending someone at the FIA by saying what all the fans are
thinking when they inevitably make a cack handed decision.

33

PITPASS / feature

LEARNING CURVE

Getting into the world of motorsport can be tough if you’re a racer, but it
can be even tougher if you prefer lying under a car and tinkering with it’s
insides to driving one. Thankfully for all the aspiring engineers and mechanics
there is a way of getting your foot in the door, as Matthew Briggs found out

T

hey say one of the best
things about university
is the experiences you
have up along the way - living away from home, rolling into early morning lecturers with a gargantuan
hangover…oh, and building
a single seater racing car
from scratch and then racing it around one of the most
famous circuits in the world.
No, I’m not making it up. For
thousands of students the

34

experience of designing, creating and racing a car is very
real thanks to the Formula
Student initiative.
Formula Student is a programme set up by the Institute
of Mechanical Engineers and it
allows up and coming engineers
to show off their talents to the
motor racing fraternity. Famous
faces from the world of motorsport such as Ross Brawn and
Pat Symonds are patrons of Formula Student and look to it to

produce the next generation of
creative genius’ that will produce
race winning cars.
The original idea was the brainchild of the US based Society
of Automotive Engineers who
set up the imaginatively named
Formula SAE programme in
1981 for students across the
pond. In 1998, after 17 years,
a demonstration event was
held in the UK. IMechE decided
to take up the offer of managing the European venture soon

PITPASS / feature
after and ever since then the
end of the academic year race
has been held. Teams based at
universities not just from the
UK but from around Europe and
even from far flung places like
America and India compete on a
yearly basis.
The race takes place at Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix for the past 22
years. Rather than all taking
to the track at the same time
teams race against the clock,
much like a round of the WRC.
This may seem slightly boring
to the uneducated observer but
unlike most races, where the
driver is the be all and end all,
this race is about the production
of the car. Going wheel to wheel
through corner after corner is
less important than seeing which
is the fastest, most reliable car.
The University of Sunderland
is one of many academic centres from the UK taking part in
the programme. John Wood is
the team manager of the university’s Formula Student team
and he believes that while the
workload may be heavy at times
the students get a lot out of
it: “Primarily a lot of the work
is done solely by the students.
Compared to other universities
we’re free to get hands on and
help in the building of the car
whereas some places just get
the students to draw what they
want and the technicians knock
it together. We’ve really only got
one lecturer and one technician

outside help if there are certain
things we’re just not able to do
by ourselves in house but we
try to do as much here as we
possibly can. You‘ve got to
remember that this isn’t part
of the course so everyone is
giving up their spare time to
help out.
“The first car was built in
2004 and it was built in three
months because it was a last
minute decision to enter. It
was made mainly out of parts
from a Nissan Micra. Obviously
we don’t knock them together
that quickly all the time - that
was a one off. The one we’re
currently working on started
being built in September and
we aim to finish it at the end
of May so it takes a full academic year.”
While the result of the 2008
race wasn’t amazing John
understands the magnitude of
the situation for a team with
such a small bunch of dedicated workers: “Last year was
a bit of a disappointment for
us as our car broke down on
track due to problems with the
gear shifting mechanism. That
aside we’ve actually improved
year on year point wise since
we first entered in 2004 so we
hope to kick on this year and
do the same again but it’s difficult with over 100 teams taking
part.
“For example, last year at
Silverstone 140 teams from all
over the world were involved.

Going wheel to wheel isn’t
important in this race.
Seeing which university
has built the fastest and
most reliable machine is
the name of the game
helping out so the students have
to shoulder a lot of the work but
I’m convinced it’s a good thing.
It gets you more experience.
“We do occasionally get a bit of

They came from places like
America, Canada, Holland, loads
came from Germany, most European countries had at least one
car there. It’s quite far reaching

to say the least.
“At present we have ten students taking part in the project.
It varies from year to year so

WINNING FORMULA: UoS’
team leader, John Wood
we can have anywhere between
five and 15. It’s relatively small
in comparison to the teams
from places like Germany, who
can have as many as 40 people
working on their car.
“As well as the race at Silverstone there are others all around
the world open to all comers.
There’s one at Germany, Italy,
Japan and a handful in America
to name a few. All the teams are
free to go over there and race if
they want and can afford to.”
Work experience also comes in
handy for the team when members arrive back having learned
a few tricks of the trade: “On
the courses students have the
chance to do a year of work experience at motor racing teams
and car companies which is brilliant for us. Julie Liddle, who ran
the team last year is in a posi-

35

PITPASS / feature

PROBLEMS: The team hope their 2009 entrant will be more reliable than their 2008 (above)
tion at General Motors and the
lad who ran it the year before
that worked at Adrian Reynard
for a while alongside people

alumni has went on to become
chief designer at Triumph motorcycles.”
However, the current financial

Someone who ran the team
two years ago has just spent
a few months working with
the Brawn GP team as part
of their university course
from what is now Brawn GP. Experience like that is priceless not
just for them but for us too.
“There are numerous people
that have worked on our Formula Student programme who have
went out into the wide world and
got fantastic jobs. One of our

36

climate could mean that Sunderland’s Formula Student team
is struggling for cash in the
near future: “This year we got
a grant from the university of
£22,000 and we’re aiming to get
£5,000 in sponsorship before
race day, which is around what

we’ve managed to get in previous years but the recession has
meant we’ve had real trouble
raising the money so far. We’ve
still got people interested, most
of which sponsor us on a yearly
basis but other companies are
trying to be more frugal. We
hold a sponsorship event in June
of each year to try and garner
some interest so hopefully that’ll
improve the situation but we understand some people just can’t
afford it.”
Unless sponsorship becomes
impossible to find then there
is life in Sunderland’s Formula
Student team yet, and the same
goes for the venture as a whole.
For the up and coming Adrian
Newey’s of his world this is one
of the best foots in the door that
you can possibly get.
Formula Student 2009 will take
place from 16 July to 19 July

PITPASS / feature

OK IN THE UK

Britain has produced some great drivers over the years, but who is
the cream of the crop? Well, at Pitpass we’ve worked around the
clock to find out who is the best driver to come out of the United
Kingdom. From F1 to Rallying to Touring Cars, they were all discussed
and now Matthew Briggs brings you our definitive top ten countdown

10
Damon
Hill

Hill’s first
foray into
F1 came at
the 1992
British
Grand Prix thanks to the then
struggling Brabham team. After
starting only two races the team
collapsed and Hill went on to
test for Williams. In 1993 he
was surprisingly promoted to
the main driver line up to partner Alain Prost after Nigel Mansell had decided to try his luck
racing in the United States. Hill

38

started slowly but got better as
the season went on and won
three races in his first season at
Williams.
In 1994 Hill was expected to
act as Ayrton Senna’s wingman
as the Brazilian strolled to fourth
championship but was forced
to become the lead driver after
Senna was tragically killed in
an accident at the San Marino
Grand Prix. While many expected Hill to be too green to mount
a serious title challenge he
shocked everyone by going toe
to toe with another rising star
- Michael Schumacher. Going
into the last race of the season
Schumacher lead Hill by a single
point and a contentious coming
together between the two saw

them both retire from the race
and the young German crowned
champion.
1995 saw Schumacher win
the title again but this time by
a greater margin as unreliability plagued the Williams FW17.
Finally, in 1996 Hill secured his
first and only world title, beating
out rookie Canadian and Williams team mate Jacques Villeneuve in the final race of the
season in Japan.
While Hill only have won one
title he was a talented driver
and if it wasn’t for coming up
against one of the greatest drivers ever in Michael Schumacher
and a few dodgy career choices
it’s safe to assume he would’ve
won much more.

9

Sir
Stirling
Moss

He had
the
name of
a motor
racing driver, look of a motor
racing driver, balls of a motor
racing driver but unfortunately
Moss lacks one crucial thing.
You see unlike Hill, Sir Stirling
Moss doesn’t have any world
titles to boast about but his talent is undoubted. Moss flirted
with success in F1 racing until
1955 when he joined Daimler
Benz and finished second in
the championship to Argentinean great Juan Manuel Fangio.
Moss then finished second in the
championship again for the next
three years, twice to Fangio and
once to Mike Hawthorn.
Moss then dropped down the
championship order, securing three third place championship finishes over the next
three years before finally retir-

PITPASS / feature
ing in 1961. Despite his lack of
a driver’s title over his racing
career he secured a total of 16
victories and is often labelled
“the best driver never to win
a world championship,” so our
caps are well and truly doffed in
the direction of Sir Stirling here
at Pitpass towers.

8

Lewis
Hamilton

Not since
a square
jawed German by the
name of
Schumacher
set foot on the scene back in the
early 90’s have we seen such
a naturally gifted racing driver.
Any pretence that Hamilton was
going to be the foil for double
world champion Fernando
Alonso was quickly erased when
Hamilton stormed into the lead
of the 2007 championship and
started breaking records left,
right and centre. The most successful rookie in history looked

almost certain to be crowned
world champion at his very first
attempt but two disastrous races
in China and Brazil he missed
out on the title by a single point.
In his second season he looked
to put set the record straight
and managed to right the
wrongs of the year before with
a last corner manoeuvre at the
final race of the season in Brazil which saw him win his first
world title by a single point from
Felipe Massa and in turn become
the youngest F1 world champion
in the history of the sport.

7

Richard
Burns

Often
in the
shadow of
the better known
Colin McRae, Richard Burns was
also a World Rally Champion.
Burns first competed in the WRC
in 1990 but didn’t achieve any
major success until 1999 when
he finished second in the cham-

NUMBER 8: He may not have been around long but Lewis Hamilton easily makes our top 10
39

PITPASS / feature
pionship, a feat he repeated in
2000. In 2001, while driving
for the same Subaru team as
his fellow Brit had years prior,
he secured the title beating out
McRae, Tommi Makinen and Carlos Sainz at the Rally of Great
Britain.
Four years to the day after
winning the WRC, on the 25
November 2005, Richard Burns
died of a brain tumour.

6

James
Hunt

The playboy who
brought
F1 to the
masses.
Until 1976
F1 wasn’t broadcast regularly on
television but James Hunt’s title
battle with Niki Lauda forced the
BBC’s hand who decided to run
the risk and show the final race
of the year from Japan. The picture quality was awful, thanks to
the wet weather which plagued
the race but the on track events
were fascinating.
Hunt had started the season
awfully but managed to claw
his way back into contention. A
horrifying crash which left Lauda
on the verge of death gave Hunt
an opportunity to take chunks
out of his lead. Thankfully Lauda
recovered and was back only
two races later but Hunt was on
a mission and won the Canadian
and United States Grand Prix,
leaving him only three points
behind Lauda prior to the last
race.
For the ill Lauda the heavy
rain at the final race was all too
much and unable to blink due to
the water and injuries he suffered at the crash in Germany
he pulled out of the race on the
second lap. With three laps to
go Hunt was in fifth but needed
to finish fourth or higher to win.
In those three laps he managed to drag himself into the top
three and won the world title as
a result. He took up a TV role
alongside Murray Walker after
he retired but sadly in 1993 he
died of a heart attack aged 45.

40

5

Colin
McRae

You know
you’ve
made it
in motorsport nowadays if you’re one of the few to
get your name plastered on the
front of some semi-decent computer game. Colin McRae was
one of those few. After he won
the World Rally Championship
way back in 1995, becoming the
first Briton to win it in the process, he was arguably the biggest name in UK motorsport and
not without reason. To win the
title he had to beat two of the all
time great rally drivers in Sainz
and Makinen.
Even though McRae only won
one WRC he was constantly
completive. His battles with the
two aforementioned fantastic
drivers have went down in history as some of the most thrilling the sport has seen. At a time
when the sport of WRC is suffering greatly due to various financial issues the sport would probably give an arm and a leg to
have a driver like McRae racing
against the dominant Sebastian
Loeb. McRae died in a helicopter
crash in September 2007.

4

Andy
Priaulx

You’re
probably
wondering who
the bloody
hell Andy Priaulx is which is fair
enough. He isn’t the best known
driver in the world but his record
speaks for itself - out of the last
four World Touring Car Championships, the highest level of
saloon car racing there is, he’s
won three. He also won the last
season of the events forerunner,
the European Touring Car Championship, meaning he is the only
FIA Touring Car champion to
win an international level cham-

pionship for four years on the
bounce. An outstanding feat. He
also made it to the semi-finals
of the 2008 Race of Champions
ahead of more well known drivers such as Michael Schumacher,
Jenson Button and Sebastian
Vettel.

3

Nigel
Mansell

A favourite of the
F1 fraternity in the
late 80’s
and early 90’s. While one world
title may not look too impressive
the fact he managed to secure
one at all while racing against
the likes of Nelson Piquet, Alain
Prost and Ayrton Senna is.
Mansell was accused of being rude and demanding off the
track but on it he was a natural
racer. After a few years at Lotus
and Williams he was hand picked
by the late Enzo Ferrari to drive
for the Italian team in 1989 and
won on his first outing in the
car. Nicknamed ‘Il Leone’ by the
tifosi, he only won three races
in his two years at the team but
he was still much loved.
He moved back to Williams
where in 1992 he secured his
one and only championship.
Throughout the season Mansell
was dominant, setting several
records. He fell out with Williams
shortly after and went to America to race in the IndyCar series.
He was a huge success across
the pond and won the IndyCar
title at his first attempt, making
him the only driver ever to hold
both the F1 and IndyCar titles at
the same time.

2

Sir
Jackie
Stewart

Regarded
as one
of the
smoothest
drivers of
a Formula One car ever to grace

PITPASS / feature
the sport Sir Jackie’s legacy
stretches far beyond simply winning three world titles. An advocate for safety in the sport many
drivers who’ve been involved
in violent crashes wouldn’t be
here today if Stewart hadn’t
campaigned tirelessly for better
medical facilities, better maintained tracks and safer cars.
Stewart burst onto the scene
in 1965 finishing third in his
very first season and he won his
first world championship four
years later. His second followed
in 1971 but it was his third and
final title in1973 which showed
him to be one of the all time
great drivers, winning five races
and finishing in the top three for
another three of them. This feat
was made even more astonishing since Stewart had already
decided to retire before the start
of the season, with many drivers
believing his hunger would be
lacking.
His 27 and last victory was a
then record for an F1 driver. He
withdrew from the final race of
the season after his friend and
team mate François Cervert

died in a crash at the Grand Prix
leaving him on 99 race starts.

1

Jim
Clark

Anyone
with even
a vague
knowledge of F1
will have
heard Jim Clark mentioned in
hushed tones by anoraks of the
sport and with good reason. The
Scotsman was the dominant
driver of his generation and at
the time of his death in 1968
he had achieved more wins and
more pole positions than any
other driver in the history of the
sport.
He won his first world title in
1963, winning a mind-boggling
seven out of the ten races that
season. Two years later he won
his second in equally dominant
fashion, winning six out of the
11 races. He didn’t just excel at
F1 either but all sorts of differ-

ent series. He won the BTCC in
1964 and also competed very
successfully in NASCAR, IndyCar, Le Mans and Rallying.
His ability to drive beyond the
limit was well documented too.
At the 1967 Italian Grand Prix,
in a performance which is considered one of the best ever,
he led the race until a puncture
meant he had to go into the
pits. He emerged a lap down
on the rest of the field but soon
unlapped himself and made
his way back through the field.
Heading into the last lap he was
back in first position but his car
hadn’t been filled with enough
fuel for such a performance and
he came home in third. He was
also the first foreigner to win the
Indianapolis 500.
In April 1968 he crashed during
a Formula Two race in Germany.
His car veered off the track and
into the forest surrounding the
Hockenheim circuit. He suffered
a broken neck and fractured
skull and died on the way to the
hospital. He was 32. Clark’s life
may have ended prematurely
but his legacy lives on.

BORN WINNER: Jim Clark celebrates becoming the first non-American to win the Indy 500

41

PITPASS / feature

TAKING THE
PLUNGE
As the excitement of the impending F1 season draws closer you’re
probably debating going to a Grand Prix. If you’ve been to a race
before you’ll know what to expect but if not you’ll probably be a
bit baffled. Never fear, Matthew Briggs is on the case and he’s
ready to tell you all you need to know about losing your F1 virginity

W

hile it may be all well
and good watching
F1 on TV, it’s nothing
compared to the experience
of actually being there. The
sights, sounds and smells of
a Grand Prix are only fully
recognised when you attend
one yourself. Here at Pitpass
towers we like to think that
we’re always there to lend a
helping hand to our readers
who want to broaden their
horizons so here’s a little
bit of information regarding
what exactly you ought to
expect when you part with
your hard earned cash and
buy a ticket.
No doubt your first port of
call will no doubt be the British
Grand Prix which will be held
at Silverstone - a former army
airbase - until next year when
it moves to Donnington Park.
It is located at the very bottom of Northamptonshire about
four miles away from Towcester. Getting there by car is easy
enough if not a little arduous
and there is enough parking on
site to make sure that you’ll not
be left wanting when you ar-

42

rive. They’ve sorted out the car
parks too, which were just vast
muddy areas, after a tonne of
rain left people bogged down
in the brown stuff a few years
back. If you decide driving isn’t
for you then companies such as
Motor Racing International operate coach trips stopping over in
places like Aberdeen, Newcastle
and Leeds but the journey can
be very long and very tiring.
At Silverstone there are three
types of admission - general,
grandstand and hospitality. If
you’re fortunate enough to be
able to afford a hospitality ticket
then you’ll be wined and dined
all day (or all weekend if you’re
feeling especially flush). Grandstand seating allows you to mill
around with the proles looking
at the various merchandise stalls
and soaking up the atmosphere
but when the race is about to
start you can take place in your
pre-booked seat and watch the
Grand Prix in relative comfort. If
on the other hand you decide to
slum it and buy a general admission ticket be warned there
are no plush seats for you to sit
on. Instead you’ll be viewing the

race from the grassy embankments that litter the trackside.
As you might expect it’s a free
for all so the minute you arrive
be sure to plonk your backside
down at the best location you
find and whatever you do have
one or two of your party guarding it at all times. It may seem
daft but once the track begins to
fill up it can become nigh on impossible to get a decent view of
the circuit, as some of us have
found out to our peril.
It goes without saying that
waterproofs should always be
on standby no matter what the
weather forecast may predict.
It’s no fun standing in the wet
but it’s really no fun standing in
it in a sodden cotton t-shirt you
picked because the weatherman told you it was going to be
boiling. It may go without saying
but it’s also probably a fairly
good idea to take a picnic blanket too, as several hours lying
nonchalantly on grass isn’t that
comfortable.
As far as atmosphere goes the
British GP is one of the best, as
regular racegoer Joel Thompson,
confirms: “Once you’re there,

PITPASS / feature

This being Britain, waterproofs
should always be on standby no
matter what the forecaster says
the atmosphere just blows you
away. I’d watched it for years on
the television and one day I just
decided I was going to the next
one and i’ve never looked back
since.”
What if you decide to go further field for a Grand Prix? Well,
the chances are that you’ll have
booked a package deal with one
of the various companies who
provide you with tickets, transport and accommodation so you
needn’t worry about fending for
yourself. Ticket prices abroad
are much more reasonable and
for certain races, such as the
German Grand Prix or the Italian
you can get three day general
admission tickets for much less
than it would cost for just a race
day general admission ticket in
the UK. Obviously, this saving is
offset by the travel costs but if
you don’t mind spending three
days sunning yourself on the
continent while drinking proper
beer it’s a small price to pay.
If you’ve got the cash you may
decide to travel even further out
of the way to witness the spectacle, with a plethora of races
now taking place in the Middle

East and Australasia regions. If
you’ve got nearly two and a half
grand going spare you may be
interested in the packages that
span the first two race weekends
as you can hop from Melbourne
to Kuala Lumpur to witness
them in style.
It doesn’t matter where you
are, whether it be Monza or
Melbourne, Sakhir or Silverstone
there is one thing that you need
to take with you to every Grand
Prix on the calendar - ear plugs.
As is true of almost everything
in life the faster it goes the
louder it is and the same applies
to F1 cars. One is bad enough
but when twenty are pulling
away from the grid at the same
time it’s enough to make your
ears bleed. If you don’t then I
hope you’ve got money on you
because in and around the track
they’re very, very expensive. If
you don’t mind parting with over
a tenner for a few bullet shapes
bits of foam then fair enough
but if you do then pop down to
your local chemist prior to setting off. You’ll thank me when
your hearing is still intact on the
Monday morning.

In this new feature we’re going to bring you the tales behind the drivers, teams
and races the motorsport fraternity would rather forget. This month Matthew
Briggs looks back at one of the biggest PR disasters in F1 history - Indygate

F

ormula One has always
struggled in the United
States for some inexplicable reason. Maybe it’s due
to the lack of drivers with
the word ‘Junior’ hanging off
the back of their name, or
the sparse number of laps, or
the fact drivers are expected
to tackle both left and right
hand turns in the same race.
No matter what the reason is
Formula One has always fought
to be accepted across the Atlantic ocean. The 1991 US Grand
Prix, the last held in America for
nine long years was only attended by 18,000 people but that
didn’t stop Bernie Ecclestone
from trying to break that market again. In 2000 F1 returned
to the United States taking up
residence at the world famous
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
which had recently undergone

renovation to create a twisting
infield course for the IndyCar
series.
The first F1 race at the home
of the Indy 500 was attended
by over 250,000 spectators. A
record crowd. The year after
Formula One further enamoured
itself with the American audience by being the first major
sporting event to come to the
US after the 9/11 attacks. Some
people began to wonder whether
F1 had finally got it’s foot in the
door of the American market
after all those years and whether it would finally be accepted
alongside the likes of IndyCar
and NASCAR.
It soon began to fall apart
however when in 2002 Michael
Schumacher moved over and
allowed his team mate Rubens
Barrichello to take the win in an
apparent reversal of what had

happened at Austria earlier in
the year. All of the leg work that
the F1 establishment had put in
to make F1 look like a serious
sport looked wasted as the Ferrari team manipulated the result
at the last corner for the second
time in the season. While this
may have left Ferrari red faced
and the head honchos at the FIA
fuming it was only the auderve
compared to what was to come.
Fast forward to 2005. Schumacher wasn’t romping away
with the title as some young
upstart going by the name of
Fernando Alonso had stole his
thunder. Common sense dictated
that Alonso would probably continue his charge toward his first
world title here and Schumacher
would still be flailing about looking for his first when of the season when the teams packed up
and went to France. As we know

45

PITPASS /feature
now this wasn’t the case.
Problems started in Friday
practice when Ralf Schumacher,
Michael’s brother crashed heavily at turn 13, the banked area
leading onto the pit straight
which is unique in F1. Schu-

was taken to fly in new tyres but
due to F1 rules the teams could
not use the newer tyres without
incurring a penalty. This aside it
was later revealed that the new
sets of tyres were no good for
navigating the banked turn 13

A non-championship race with
a chicane installed and minus
Ferrari was the only option,
but the FIA weren’t interested
macher was unable to compete
for the rest of the weekend
due to injuries sustained during the crash and test driver
Ricardo Zonta had to take his
place. After Zonta suffered a
similar crash, albeit much less
serious, Toyota and the team’s
tyre supplier Michelin took a
closer look. Other failures followed from other teams using
Michelin’s tyres and the decision

either.
A stand off began between the
seven teams running Michelin
tyres and the FIA. Michelin representatives revealed in a letter
to race director Charlie Whiting
that they could not guarantee
the safety of the tyres for more
than 10 laps if the cars were
going at full speed through the
corner. Whiting suggested that
the only solution available to

Michelin was to suggest to the
teams that the cars go slow
through the corner to reduce
the risk. Michelin said that they
would only allow teams to race
on their tyres if the track layout
was changed and a chicane was
added at turn 13, something
which Whiting flat out refused.
The chicane idea had been
discussed in more detail at
a meeting between Michelin,
the team principals and the F1
power brokers. Two of the three
principals of the teams running
Bridgestone tyres, Paul Stoddart
of Minardi and Colin Kolles of
Jordan, agreed to a chicane being put in at the turn in question
but Ferrari team principal Jean
Todt refused. This led to more
attempts at finding compromise
which would allow the Michelin
teams to race. A non-championship race, a race where the
Michelin teams could not score
points or a race where only the
Michelin teams had to follow the
chicane were all suggested and
in the end it was decided that
running a non-championship

TURN 13: The banked corner which caused all the trouble for the Michelin tyres in 2005
46

PITPASS /feature
race with the chicane but without Ferrari was the only real
option, something which the
FIA would not have any part of.
After a brief conflab between the
team principals and drivers it
was decided that unless the FIA
would help find a solution to the
problem the nine teams present would not race, with Ferrari
being the only ones who would
take to the grid.
Renault team principal Flavio
Briatore rang head of the FIA
Max Mosley to discuss their
suggestions but Mosley flat out
refused to entertain the idea any
sort of non-championship race.
According to the then Minardi
boss Paul Stoddart, Mosley said
that if the non-championship
race was allowed to go ahead
then all FIA backed sport in
North America would be under
threat.
With all avenues seemingly
closed the teams decided that
the eight of the nine teams present decided that the only option
was to take part in the formation lap but pull off into the pits
when the cars were regrouping
on the grid. Jordan team boss
Colin Kolles went back on his
earlier promise not to send his
Bridgestone shod cars out to
race which, along with a plea
from a Bridgestone representative forced the Minardi team to
take part in the race too.
All 20 cars sat on the grid and
took part in the formation lap
but as they reached the banked
turn 13 where the entrance to

every time the remaining vehicles sped past. One of those annoyed fans was Lisa Cote, who
travelled to watch the race from
Hartford, CT: “The first we heard
something was up was late
Saturday night but we assumed
it would be sorted. Half an hour
before the race the word got
round to expect only the Ferrari’s to race and everyone started
to get tense. It’s no surprise
there was an angry reaction.”

EMBARRASSING: The infamous six car grid pulls away in the US
Unsurprisingly the result was a
Ferrari one-two, with Schumacher taking his first win of the
season and in the aftermath of

Debris was thrown onto the
track by fans and boos rang
out every time a car sailed past
the pit lane was situated the
14 cars running Michelin tyres
pulled in to the pits and out of
the race. It quickly became a
farce with the two Ferrari’s of
Michael Schumacher and Rubens
Barrichello running away from
the other four cars. Debris was
thrown onto the track by disgruntled fans and boos rang out

his stomach” after the weekend
and went on to say: “The fact is
that mature adults were not able
to put on a show for everybody.
It’s a very sad day for racing.
Even if we do come back, half
the crowd in the stands today
won’t be back.” Even the old
guard were annoyed, with racing
legend Sir Stirling Moss calling it
“a bloody disgrace.”
Michelin’s involvement in Formula One and F1’s appeal in

the race the blame game commenced. Some team principals
blamed the FIA for being unwilling to reach a compromise,
the FIA blamed Michelin for not
bringing safe tyres and the fans
blamed everyone involved. Drivers were their typical outspoken
selves after the fiasco. David
Coulthard said he was “sick to

America slowly withered. Michelin pulled out of the sport
in 2006 leaving Bridgestone as
the single tyre supplier and the
North American market was
given the cold shoulder by F1,
with the US and Canada now
without races. However, this
doesn’t spell the end of F1 in the
United States. With the creation
of new team USGPE, who plan
to debut in 2010 the chances of
Bernie Ecclestone deciding to
have one final stab at the American market don’t look too bleak.
Formula One is all about the
money and if the powers that be
believe there is a buck or two to
be made across the ocean then
they’ll head straight back over
there, cap in hand pleading for
forgiveness. Swallowing your
pride is very easy if there’s a
few million in it for you.

47

PITPASS / interview

FACE TO FACE

He was once the next big thing in British motorsport and was even tipped to be
racing alongside the likes of Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher in F1. While
he may not have lived up to the initial hype Andy McKenna has had a glittering
career in the world of racing. He talks to Matthew Briggs about his influences,
the stress of race deals and teaching a world champion how to drive on ice

A

ndy became interested
in racing at a young
age but surprisingly his
Dad’s racing career didn’t
factor into his decision to
become a driver: “We used
to go and watch a friend of
my parents race Lotus Elan’s
around Croft back in the mid
70’s and he was either really fast or crashed which
is great entertainment, especially for a seven year old
lad.
“My dad was raced but by the
time I was born he’d stopped
doing that anyway. I wasn’t re-

48

ally influenced by him, it was
going to watch other people
race. I was aware he had raced,
I’d see newspaper clippings from
his career but that never really
put any pressure onto me. He
never encouraged me to start
racing or anything along those
lines. Funnily enough my Dad
has never seen me drive a racing car in his life. The nearest
he came was when I was karting
but there wasn’t much support
there, especially in a financial
sense.”
While most drivers nowadays
are sat in a kart before they‘re

able to walk Andy was a late
bloomer and admits karting
wasn‘t always his first choice: “I
didn’t actually start until I was
17. In hindsight though, if I had
money available to me I’d have
started in Rallying because Rallying was the thing that really
got me going as a youngster.
However, circumstances dictated
that I go into karting because
it was more accessible, I could
just put my kart in the back of
my van and drive up to Rowrah
and other places. There was also
the cost, because at the time
you could buy a brand new kart

PITPASS / interview

TOP THREE FINISH: Andy putting a Nemesis Sports prototype machine on the podium back in 2004
for the same price as a clapped
out rally car.
“My first ever meeting was a
big one over in the Lake District
at Rowrah and I finished third
overall. During the race it rained
and I’ve always liked driving on
loose surfaces since I grew up
learning to drive on farms and
private land owned by family
friends. Obviously the minute
the track got wet it suited me
and since then wet driving has
always been my major strength,
just as it was for people like
Schumacher and Senna.”
Eventually the cost of karting became too much and Andy
couldn‘t compete with the more
professional outfits. He took a
chance on a little known venture: “I left karting and I moved
onto a driver scholarship in
1990, which was brand new
at the time. It was basically a
chance to get sponsored to race
for a team and it was a big deal,
especially for the youngster who
were just coming out of lower
series. I got all the way through
to the final day of selection,
which fell on my 21 birthday and
I won a winter drive in Formula
Ford. It was the defining moment of my career because it
confirmed what I thought I was
capable of. Winning was the only
option I had because I couldn’t
have afforded to continue racing
if I didn’t.”
Unsurprisingly his rise had been
such a big one that people in

and around the industry were
already tipping him for the top,
but he soon learned that the
kind words and big expectations
weren‘t solely for his benefit: “It
was a lot for a young lad from
the North East, people expected
me to do great things and I was
being told that come 1995 I’d
be the next great British hope in
Formula One. It was especially
hard as I was pretty naïve and
the motor racing business was

Of course I had bad experiences
but sport is competitive. While
I’m competitive in the car out of
the car I’m probably a little bit
green.”
With a career as colourful and
varied as Andy’s it’s no surprise
there are a handful of drivers
who Andy really enjoys battling
with on track: “Chris Ward is
a great driver. We have a load
of respect for each other and
nowadays he’s the chief instruc-

A lot of people expected me to
do great things. I was told i’d
be racing in F1 come 1995
a new thing to me. I trusted
everyone and took them at
their word which was a mistake
because, as with every business
motorsport isn’t ran entirely by
kind, even handed people. There
are quite a few snakes.
“There are countless times I
was ill advised and it cost me
money and a few times nearly
cost me my reputation. There
were times I got involved with
nasty people who turned out
to not be what they presented
themselves as but I also surrounded myself with friends
who had more experience who
would and could help me out.

tor at Silverstone. There’s another chap called Mark Rennison
who used to race in RallyCross
and was someone I really looked
up to. He was British champion,
European champion, he was the
business and eventually I got to
know him and got the chance to
race against him. It was in the
Vauxhall Vectra Challenge back
in 1998 and I managed to pass
him on the last corner of the last
lap to take fifth.”
Although Andy loves the highs
and the lows of racing he has no
love for the race deals which he
feels see many talented drivers
leave the sport through sheer

49

PITPASS / interview
frustration or lack of funds:
“Race deals are such a large
part of racing. When I won the
scholarship I was warned that it
would be the only time everything was paid for and that can
be soul destroying. It’s probably the thing which makes are
breaks most drivers careers
because to put it plainly if they
can’t find the funding, no matter how
good they are, they
wont get the drive.
The kids will get a
knock on the door
and they’re sold
the drive, then they
come down to meet
the team manager and they’re
told that they can
have they’re welcome to the drive
so long as they
bring £100,000
with them, whether
that be in sponsorship or out of their
dad’s pocket. It
COOL: The
was weird for me
because the minute
I stopped chasing
deals and decided to concentrate
on teaching and having a family
they suddenly all came to me.
“It even happens in F1 racing now. A great friend of mine
coaches drivers and I’ve seen
his client list, which contains

between his racing and his
teaching. A rally driver at heart,
he decided to go for ice driving
after seeing it done by a fellow
racer: “I started teaching the Ice
Driver course in Sweden back in
2007. I got the idea after working with a bloke in Norway who
was doing something similar
but in my opinion wasn’t doing

adapted Ice Driver Subaru Impreza is ready to hit the white stuff
it well but I thought it was such
a good idea. He went bust so I
took the risk and did it myself. I
made sure it was a professional
operation, everything is worked
out from the track to the local
infrastructure.

Andy Priaulx, the three time WTCC
champion, came to Sweden to
have a one to one session with me
in preparation for the new season
quite a few high profile drivers but they’re in there because they can stump up the
cash to pay for the seat rather
than earned it through racing
in different series. It’s a career
choice. I’d be surprised if there
were anymore than six drivers
on the grid currently earning a
wage outright.”
Nowadays Andy splits his time

50

ing Car Championship. I mean
he’s a three time world champion.”
So does Andy have any advice for aspiring racing drivers?
“Don’t bother!” he guffaws.
“Honestly though I love it, I’m
very fortunate to be able to do
what I do for a job. As for advice
go with your gut instinct and

“People love it because it’s different to driving around a normal track, you can tell by their
faces they’re blown away by it. I
get everyone, from women who
are terrified of driving in the
few inches of snow we get back
at home to world class drivers.
Andy Priaulx came out for a one
to one session not so long ago in
preparation for the World Tour-

always remember it’s a business and there are people out
there who don’t necessarily want
to see you do well. Also, don’t
go it alone. If you need a hand
find someone who can help you.
You can’t go wrong watching
and studying the best drivers,
at the minute I’m fascinated by
Sebastian Loeb in WRC because
he’s so good. He never makes
mistakes, he’s always quick and
he’s brilliant in so many different
series and formula.”
And as for regrets, Andy has
none: “You can’t look back,
you’ve got to keep looking forward. I’m delighted at what I’m
doing now and that’s enough
for me. Even when you race in
the worst cars you still get out
having learned something about
yourself and the business so
there are no regrets. All I would
say is that if I had my time
again I would’ve went into the
World Rally Championship rather
than hanging on the other promises made to me but I’m happy
with what I’m doing now. It’s no
big deal.”

PITPASS / comment

‘Diffusergate’ gives the FIA a chance
to prove F1 is still about racing and
not just court case after court case...

J

machine
there was
quite a bit of
room for manoeuvre.
This is known by
all the teams, even
those in a huff and it’s
for this very reason the term
‘illegal’ hasn’t been throwing
around as much as you might
expect. Instead ‘unsportsmanlike’ has taken it’s place. To
me it just looks as if the other
teams have fallen behind and
are jealous they didn’t have
their heads screwed on enough
to take advantage.
Any intervention from the FIA
looks unlikely as Max Mosley
has praised the new designs,
calling them “clever” but protests are almost certain to be
lodged by other team managers. One of the most vehemently opposed to the diffusers ran
by Brawn GP and co is roly-poly
Renault team manager Flavio
Briatore who has further affirmed his reputation as a brat
of the highest order by claiming
the three teams involved are:
“using their own rulebook”.
There’s no doubt in my mind
this will go on and on and on
until it’s decided in a court.
I just hope the FIA remain
steadfast and doff their caps to
the teams who have been more
inventive while telling the likes
of Ferrari and Renault to grow
a pair. Then we can get on with
racing and hopefully put all this
stupid bloody legal action behind
us...until next season.

ust when you think F1
doesn’t follow the rules exactly
is pulling itself around
it also doesn’t contravene them.
after the off track isThey’ve effectively exploited
sues of the past few years
a loophole which was created
another invariably damagdue to the deliberately vague
ing saga rears it’s ugly head.
wording passed down from on
And this time it’s before the
high. It was hoped that this
chequered flag has even
dropped. All the hard work
the FIA have done over the
winter to make the sport
interesting again looks like
it could be in jeopardy on
the eve of the first race of
the season due to some
confusion over the new design specifications.
During pre-season testing it’s
been abundantly clear there
are three teams out there with
the edge on the others - Brawn
GP, Toyota and Williams. In
testing they’ve been faster
than the usual suspects and in
the minds of the jilted teams
there is one reason for this their diffusers.
Since only the people who
make diffusers actually know
FLAV: Toys out the pram yet again
how they work I’ll provide a
brief, if not slightly amateurish, explanation of what a difseason would see designers
fuser does. Basically, a diffuser
find their own way rather than
helps create downforce meaning just copying the designs of the
the car can grip the road better
other teams and while the rule
which in turn means better trac- changes seem fairly strict on the
tion and better speed (or so I‘m
surface for those charged with
told). The problem lies with the
creating the latest race winning
design of the diffuser for those
particular teams as the one
they’ve created, while being shit
Sniffpetrol.com - A fantastic blog style thingy written and
hot on the track, doesn’t follow
looked after by Richard Porter, one of the many brains bethe new rules exactly to the lethind Top Gear (Come off it, you didn’t think Jeremy Clarkson
ter. Seems like an open and shut
thought up all those scenarios by himself, did you?). Updated
case, doesn’t it? They’re broke
monthly and side splittingly funny. A must bookmark.
the rules, right? Wrong.
While the diffuser design